


M is for Mabari

by FenHarelMaGhilana (WhitethornWolf)



Series: Fortune Favour Me [18]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2012-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-14 19:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhitethornWolf/pseuds/FenHarelMaGhilana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Eilin makes a friend, of sorts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	M is for Mabari

Eilin hears the commotion on her way back from her morning lessons.

Her path takes her past the kennels, and the barking of dogs is a background noise she hardly notices these days. Most noble families have kennels, and her family is no exception - they love their dogs, like any good Fereldan.

Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she makes a detour. Mother Mallol can wait a few minutes, surely; it wasn't like the lesson wasn't terribly important.

She recognises the mabari in the last stall, a bitch named Haelia who was mated to Father's hound. It's breeding season, so the sounds of puppies playing fills the kennels - high-pitched squeals and yelps, and roly poly bodies tumbling in the straw. Haelia's puppies are round and ungainly, with rough coats and huge paws, and they crawl all over her. The sight makes Eilin laugh out loud.

"Would you like to see them, my lady?" the kennel master asks as he opens the stall door enough for her to enter. Suddenly there pups are all over her, nipping at the hem of her dress, jumping up and nearly bowling her over in their enthusiasm. She sits in the straw and they swarm her, snuffling and licking her ears until she shrieks with laughter.

"Enjoying yourself, darling?"

Father is watching her leaning over the stall, grinning in amusement at the sight. His sleeves are rolled to the elbow and he looks far more dishevelled than she's used to seeing him. He reaches down and lifts one of the puppies, disentangling it from the folds of her dress.

"Fine fellows, aren't they?" he says, laughing as the pup licks his face. "My old girl's done well."

"They are quite...lively." Eilin reaches over, gently pushing two pups off her lap, and gives Haelia a scratch behind the ears, smiling as the mabari grunts in pleasure.

Father opens the stall door and slips inside, then to her surprise, sits down. The pup he was carrying crawls into Eilin's lap, licking at her fingers as she strokes his head.

"Don't you have things to do?" she asks. "I thought I saw Arl Bryland's seneschal outside the main hall a few hours ago. Don't let me distract you. Unless you want to be distracted, I suppose."

Father smiles at her, and gives her hair a gentle tug. "I always have time for my pups."

"A pity I'm not so roly poly then," she says.

"No, but you used to play with as much abandon." He leans over and scratches the ears of the puppy nestled in her lap. "This one likes you, I think."

"I shouldn't get attached," Eilin says, gazing at the pup as he wriggles and whines. "I know they won't stay. They'll leave Highever and live out their lives away from us."

"I think I can spare one pup out of the litter. He's yours."

Eilin bends over the puppy as he twitches in his sleep, and the smile spreads across her face.

"You spoil me, Father," she says finally. She can't stop stroking the coarse fur, smiling at the round belly rising and falling rapidly. "I can really keep him?"

"Really." Father gently pushes away a puppy determinedly gnawing on his boot. "Sometimes the things we get attached to leave us, and that's the way things are. But if you have something rare and precious, it's worth keeping for as long as you can."

This time it's him she smiles at, the grin gentled with affection and warmth.

"You needn't worry, Father. I'll be sticking around for a while yet."

They stay in the kennels all afternoon.


End file.
